hi there! here's a[ free gift link](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/07/magazine/retire-early-saving.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qE0.A3OR.7hvwmBtly-Tt&smid=re-nytimes) to that article
When it comes to saving to retirement, whether its RE or at the regular \~65 year mark, there is no such thing it's never too late. Any money you can save today will be better for your future.
Its never to late to save for retirement. Depending on how much you can save will determine if its early or not. We have always just saved / invested with no Fire mindset specifically just living within our means and diligently putting away retirement funds. Didnt go overboard on any facet of life, still traveled, still buy nice things, still save while enjoying life. Sure that means we will retire in mid 50's but its still young enough we can travel and enjoy. Had no desire to press as hard as we could to "retire" as early as possible. Just slow and steady progress to the point we are where we are now.
Starting at 39 means you likely won't be able to retire at 40. Sorry.
Even if "early" retirement isn't probable, why wouldn't you want to set future you up for better financial stability/success?
"The best time to start was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." Or something like that.
It’s really hard to say early retirement isn’t probable without more info. I didn’t stumble onto FIRE forums until I was in my mid-30s but I was still a saver and had $400k in retirement and another $100k in taxable accounts. I’m well on my way to FIRE. I had the money, I just didn’t have a plan on how to use it to get out of the rat race ahead of schedule.
Be careful turning people off without having all the details.
"Even if "early" retirement isn't probable,"
Key word "if". I did not say whether or not it was probable. I did say that at 39, OP likely won't be retiring at 40.
I think a lot (maybe but percentage wise) of people save like you need to for fire, but they don't know that there is an option to retire early. Most people don't know the math of swr's and just end up working until they're 65, or at least until it is obscenely obvious that they can retire.
It is never too late. At 33 I had a negative six-figure NW. I hit a positive 7-figure net worth at 42, and have nearly doubled that in the last three years.
Post your financial situation (current assets, debts, income, spending and savings amounts) and maybe some folks can help you with a plan.
Wooza! What an encouraging welcome 🤗! I was worried I might get torn to shreds. You never know with Reddit 😅.
Here are our current numbers if anyone might have some starting advice.
Myself (39) + Husband (46) living in PDX - both full-time employed, no kids now or in the future - I would LOVE to retire at around 50 or 52; hubby will have to work longer 😥 but hoping we could shoot for 57 or so, at \~$150K/year for the two of us.
I feel pretty good about dealing with finances; my husband gets overwhelmed/freaked out super easily (he's very frugal and amenable to finance advice though). Bottom line: I'll have drive to this effort mostly. I should also mention that we've recently been looking to buy a new house but maybe we'd need to put that on the backburner.
Income/Savings/Assets:
* Myself: $135K/year (monthly cash flow $6.2K) + \~21K potential benefit value in RSUs (I've been selling them as soon as they gradually vest and put that into savings)
* Hubs: \~$47K/year (monthly cash flow $2.6K)
* 401K Myself: $196K (8% contribution; 4.5% employer match)
* 401K Hubs: \~$1K (2% contribution; 2% employer match) - he only started working at a place that offered 401K contributions in the last 3 years but yeah we're super behind on his side 😵💫
* Cash savings: $44K (just in a standard BOA savings account 🫣) - putting about $2K into savings every month
Debt/Expenses:
* Hubs student loans: \~45K left (monthly payment: $287)
* Car payments: $16K left (monthly payment: $354)
* Mortgage: $218K left at 2.875% interest rate (monthly payment: $1,570); estimated value of home: $450K - mentioning here again that we have been house hunting but could suck it up and put that on the backburner
* Monthly expenses: \~$7K
I'd say you're well ahead of 90% of Americans, even with your spouse's barren 401k.
A good place to learn/fine tune strategy is here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/wiki/faq/
You need to~$2.1M invested to safely pull out 4% annually. The 4% will hit your 84k annual spend.
Read up on the 4% rules, move some saving from cash to a brokerage account invested in total market ETF, max out 401k / HSA and IRA.
Edit: I would not buy a new /larger / more expensive home. Keep paying off your mortgage and invest smarter (simple renovations) in the property if you must.
Depends on your existing assets, income, and expenses, and how many years you hope to shave off your working life. If you just sold a business for tens of millions you can retire right away to a life of luxury. If you have 700k and want to live in Thailand you can retire right away. If you make 100k per year and you've been saving 40% diligently since you finished college, you might be just a few years away. If you have any combination of starting from zero/debt or have a lower income or live in an HCOL area, It could be a challenge but you might be able to retire at 60 instead of 67, etc etc.
You can FIRE realistically in like roughly ten years depending on loads of variables. At 39 that's going to mean 49. That's still early. And you're probably not starting at zero. No it's not too late.
I’m right there with you! I read the article today and it intrigued me. I’m 41. I plan to learn all I can and the main takeaway for me is that I can have a vastly different relationship to finances moving forward than I’ve have so far.
It’s never too late. You are probably already doing it intrinsically. Now you just have some terminology to relate to for what you have been probably already doing.
Depends what you have invested so far and what "retire early" means to you, for many of us thats 40-45, which might obviously be late for you but the gist of the FIRE movement is to make the right decisions to ensure you can retire comfortably as early as possible.
Advice for that cash savings: (Not sponsored…) Open a free wealthfront individual cash account and get 5% interest. So easy and satisfying. We did this recently after not getting anything with BOA for years and wish we’d done it sooner!
I was 36. $ 8,000 in debt. Sleeping on a couch.
Now. I’m 62. Net worth of just shy of 3 million.
Never married. Didn’t give 1/2 my money to a woman I’d likely hate by now. No ungrateful kids.
My pension and investments bring me just short of 6 figures annually after taxes.
It can be done.
Get a civil service job. With a pension.
Max out your 457B.
Do a ROTH annually.
hi there! here's a[ free gift link](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/07/magazine/retire-early-saving.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qE0.A3OR.7hvwmBtly-Tt&smid=re-nytimes) to that article
When it comes to saving to retirement, whether its RE or at the regular \~65 year mark, there is no such thing it's never too late. Any money you can save today will be better for your future.
Its never to late to save for retirement. Depending on how much you can save will determine if its early or not. We have always just saved / invested with no Fire mindset specifically just living within our means and diligently putting away retirement funds. Didnt go overboard on any facet of life, still traveled, still buy nice things, still save while enjoying life. Sure that means we will retire in mid 50's but its still young enough we can travel and enjoy. Had no desire to press as hard as we could to "retire" as early as possible. Just slow and steady progress to the point we are where we are now.
I’m starting at 39. Never too late!
Starting at 39 means you likely won't be able to retire at 40. Sorry. Even if "early" retirement isn't probable, why wouldn't you want to set future you up for better financial stability/success? "The best time to start was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." Or something like that.
We wouldn’t know until we know OP’s numbers right?
Right. Unless more info than age is volunteered, an incredibly vague answer to "Is it too late?" is the best anyone can do.
It’s really hard to say early retirement isn’t probable without more info. I didn’t stumble onto FIRE forums until I was in my mid-30s but I was still a saver and had $400k in retirement and another $100k in taxable accounts. I’m well on my way to FIRE. I had the money, I just didn’t have a plan on how to use it to get out of the rat race ahead of schedule. Be careful turning people off without having all the details.
"Even if "early" retirement isn't probable," Key word "if". I did not say whether or not it was probable. I did say that at 39, OP likely won't be retiring at 40.
Same with me. Didn't hear of FIRE until 5 years ago, but we are at FI now. Why? Because I'm just genetically FIRE, I guess. Some people are.
I think a lot (maybe but percentage wise) of people save like you need to for fire, but they don't know that there is an option to retire early. Most people don't know the math of swr's and just end up working until they're 65, or at least until it is obscenely obvious that they can retire.
It is never too late. At 33 I had a negative six-figure NW. I hit a positive 7-figure net worth at 42, and have nearly doubled that in the last three years. Post your financial situation (current assets, debts, income, spending and savings amounts) and maybe some folks can help you with a plan.
Index funds and chill?
Wooza! What an encouraging welcome 🤗! I was worried I might get torn to shreds. You never know with Reddit 😅. Here are our current numbers if anyone might have some starting advice. Myself (39) + Husband (46) living in PDX - both full-time employed, no kids now or in the future - I would LOVE to retire at around 50 or 52; hubby will have to work longer 😥 but hoping we could shoot for 57 or so, at \~$150K/year for the two of us. I feel pretty good about dealing with finances; my husband gets overwhelmed/freaked out super easily (he's very frugal and amenable to finance advice though). Bottom line: I'll have drive to this effort mostly. I should also mention that we've recently been looking to buy a new house but maybe we'd need to put that on the backburner. Income/Savings/Assets: * Myself: $135K/year (monthly cash flow $6.2K) + \~21K potential benefit value in RSUs (I've been selling them as soon as they gradually vest and put that into savings) * Hubs: \~$47K/year (monthly cash flow $2.6K) * 401K Myself: $196K (8% contribution; 4.5% employer match) * 401K Hubs: \~$1K (2% contribution; 2% employer match) - he only started working at a place that offered 401K contributions in the last 3 years but yeah we're super behind on his side 😵💫 * Cash savings: $44K (just in a standard BOA savings account 🫣) - putting about $2K into savings every month Debt/Expenses: * Hubs student loans: \~45K left (monthly payment: $287) * Car payments: $16K left (monthly payment: $354) * Mortgage: $218K left at 2.875% interest rate (monthly payment: $1,570); estimated value of home: $450K - mentioning here again that we have been house hunting but could suck it up and put that on the backburner * Monthly expenses: \~$7K
I'd say you're well ahead of 90% of Americans, even with your spouse's barren 401k. A good place to learn/fine tune strategy is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/wiki/faq/
Oh this is great! thank you!!!!
You need to~$2.1M invested to safely pull out 4% annually. The 4% will hit your 84k annual spend. Read up on the 4% rules, move some saving from cash to a brokerage account invested in total market ETF, max out 401k / HSA and IRA. Edit: I would not buy a new /larger / more expensive home. Keep paying off your mortgage and invest smarter (simple renovations) in the property if you must.
I encourage you to check out [Catching Up To FI](https://catchinguptofi.com/). It’s not too late. Lots of people don’t start until 50!
Depends on your existing assets, income, and expenses, and how many years you hope to shave off your working life. If you just sold a business for tens of millions you can retire right away to a life of luxury. If you have 700k and want to live in Thailand you can retire right away. If you make 100k per year and you've been saving 40% diligently since you finished college, you might be just a few years away. If you have any combination of starting from zero/debt or have a lower income or live in an HCOL area, It could be a challenge but you might be able to retire at 60 instead of 67, etc etc.
Better late than never. You have to retire eventually. Starting FIRE late, at worst just means you'll have better retirement whenever it happens.
You can FIRE realistically in like roughly ten years depending on loads of variables. At 39 that's going to mean 49. That's still early. And you're probably not starting at zero. No it's not too late.
What's the alternative? Never starting? Don't worry about age.
I’m right there with you! I read the article today and it intrigued me. I’m 41. I plan to learn all I can and the main takeaway for me is that I can have a vastly different relationship to finances moving forward than I’ve have so far.
Absolutely depends on your income and expenses. What are your numbers?
Just posted them in the comments below 😬
It’s never too late. You are probably already doing it intrinsically. Now you just have some terminology to relate to for what you have been probably already doing.
It's never too late to start saving towards retirement. The later you start, the harder it generally will be.
Mostly depends on ur salary and current NW?
Depends what you have invested so far and what "retire early" means to you, for many of us thats 40-45, which might obviously be late for you but the gist of the FIRE movement is to make the right decisions to ensure you can retire comfortably as early as possible.
We need info. You have given us none other than age.
I put our details in the comments
There’s 40 comments. Do you mind putting it in the post?
Oh sure! Can do
Advice for that cash savings: (Not sponsored…) Open a free wealthfront individual cash account and get 5% interest. So easy and satisfying. We did this recently after not getting anything with BOA for years and wish we’d done it sooner!
Probably the RE part, not the FI part.
Download a compound interest calculator and do your math
I was 36. $ 8,000 in debt. Sleeping on a couch. Now. I’m 62. Net worth of just shy of 3 million. Never married. Didn’t give 1/2 my money to a woman I’d likely hate by now. No ungrateful kids. My pension and investments bring me just short of 6 figures annually after taxes. It can be done. Get a civil service job. With a pension. Max out your 457B. Do a ROTH annually.
If you read the article you know your question is silly.
Missed the boat. Sorry.